Free Rice

A game that builds vocabulary while donating funds to the United Nations World Food Program.

http://www.freerice.com/

USASpending.gov

"Where Americans Can See Where Their Money Goes" -- who receives government grant, contracts, etc.

http://www.usaspending.gov

Trip Advisor

Actual travelers share their opinions about hotels, tourist sites, etc.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/

Learn English With Pictures (or Audio)

A site for those learning English.

http://www.my-english-dictionary.com/

Degree of Confluence Project

Now here's a novel way to pick a travel destination! A confluence is where latitude and longitude integer degrees intersect. There are 16 such locations in Iowa. This site is collecting photos from confluence points around the globe.

http://www.confluence.org/

Roadside America

We've featured this "Online Guide to Offbeat Tourist Attractions" before -- a fun site! Be sure to check the Iowa locations.

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/

National Caves Association

The second in our series of vacation sites.

http://cavern.com/

Sacred Destinations

Site devoted to locations of religious significance around the world -- the first in our series of alternative vacation ideas!

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/

Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Technical Info

Get ready for bicycling season. RAGBRAI anyone?

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/

top 5 myths about downloading internet music

This brief presentation by Messiah College in Pennsylvania, explains the copyright situation regarding downloading music through file-sharing services. A good, simple site for those who have questions.

http://www.messiah.edu/etc/musicdownload.pdf

Rules of Thumb

A collection of rules for all sorts of things from how much to pay for a beginner's musical instrument (twice what you think you should) to how much dirt to remove when digging a grave (take away 17 wheelbarrows full).

http://rulesofthumb.org/

The Secret Life of the Brain

Site to accompany the PBS series.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/brain/

100 Most Often Mispronounced Words and Phrases in English

from Your Dictionary.com

http://www.yourdictionary.com/library/mispron.html

How to Write a Thank-you Note

A practical guide!

http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/how_to/how_to_write_a_thankyou_note.php

50+ Professionals

CareerJournal.com's guide to changing jobs after age 50.

http://www.careerjournal.com/myc/fifty/

Natural History of Holiday Plants

Online exhibit from the San Diego Natural History Museum.

http://www.sdnhm.org/research/botany/hp_photos.html

Northpole

Another fun Christmas site.

http://www.northpole.com/

Christmas Legends

The truth about some common holiday ideas -- How many wise men were there? What do the stripes on a candy cane represent? and so on.

http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/christmas.asp

All Things Christmas

It's that time of year again . . . so we will be featuring some select holiday sites in the coming weeks.

http://www.allthingschristmas.com/

The Iowa Health Fact Book

Statistics and health care resources for Iowans.

http://www.public-health.uiowa.edu/factbook/